Bound by Love, Torn by Duty
by beththebookworm
Summary: Irene and Carlisle split after a nasty fight that left her heartbroken and beyond angry. Now, a century and a half later, extenuating circumstances have brought them back together. Will they be able to mend what had been broken so long ago? OC/Carlisle
1. Chapter 1

Part One

"Hurry up, Carl! You're lagging behind!" I called out, laughing. Behind me, Carlisle was trying to keep up with me and doing a very bad job of it. "You know I hate it when you call me that!" he yelled in mock annoyance. I stuck my tongue out at him and slowed down a bit. Bad idea on my part. A sudden flash of sparkling white tackled me to the ground, where we rolled around for a while, laughing happily.

As we lay there, both of us admiring the others glittering skin, I sighed contentedly. Everything was perfect. Just weeks ago, I had me Carlisle, who had been traveling through town, and had been steadily falling in love ever since. I had an amazing boyfriend, and awesome new power to go with my new vampire body, and loving parents who—

Suddenly, I shot up and, dragging Carlisle behind me, began running quickly in a specific direction. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

I giggled. "Nothing, Carl."

"Then where are we running to in such a hurry?"

"My parents, silly!"

With that, he pulled me to a stop. Or tried to, anyway. He may have been a 200 year old vampire, but I was less than a year old, so my human was still fueling me immensely. "What do you mean, your parents?" he asked, doubt lacing his features.

Confused, I frowned at him slightly. Then it dawned on me what he meant and I laughed giddily. "The coven who changed me, Carl. Don't worry, they're nice." With that, I resumed pulling him at full speed toward the house where my dad was waiting.

When we neared the house, we both paused to fix our windblown clothes and tousled hair before walking calmly inside. As we stepped through the door, Carlisle stiffened and turned to face the three men who stood off to the right.

"Ah, Carlisle, so nice of you to finally join us," the man in the middle practically giggled, stepping into the light.

"Aro," Carlisle nodded tightly.

Confused, I glanced between the two. "You two know each other?"

Father smiled at me serenely. "Why, don't you remember, my dear Irene? This is my old friend, Carlisle Cullen, the one I've told you so much about!"

I looked at my Carl thoughtfully. Suddenly, there was the sound of approaching footsteps accompanied by dozens of excited voices. Father clapped his hands lightly and several vampires filed into the room, each leading a couple of laughing, clueless humans.

I growled lowly, sure that the tell-tale blood red specks of hunger dotted my dark green eyes. Turning my attention to Carlisle, I asked laughingly, "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

At this, Father came over to us. "I'm sorry, dear, but his diet is that of vegetarian consumption. Dinner with us would be rather… uncomfortable, eh, Carlisle?" he asked, eyes shining oddly.

I looked at him with curiosity. Carlisle, ignoring Father, answered my question. "Actually, I hunted earlier today, thank you. I must be going."

As he left, I caught his hand. "The forest tonight? Same time?" I whispered lowly, searching his honey golden eyes. He paused, obviously debating his answer, then nodded once before disappearing through the doors and into the trees.

Confused, I watched him leave with a sense of foreboding. "Irene! Join us, won't you?" Father called across the room. Shrugging away the uncomfortable feeling that had settled over me, I turned with a snarl and lunged at the nearest human.

*~*~* later that night *~*~*

As I entered into our usual meeting place, I glanced around nervously, not sure my Carl was going to show. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him leaning up against our tree, skin glimmering softly in the moonlight.

When he saw me, he walked slowly over to me. Without so much as a hello, he said, "Why didn't you tell me that the vampire who changed you was Aro of the Volturi?" He didn't sound angry, just a little worried.

Shrugging, I glanced around the clearing distractedly, saying, "I don't know. Never crossed my mind as important."

Grabbing my chin gently, Carlisle turned me to face him. "But it is, Irene. Those people are murderers."

Pulling away indignantly, I asked, "What are you talking about? Father is the nicest person I know!"

He sighed. "Irene, the Volturi slaughter droves of innocent humans daily. They make false accusations against other covens when they get to be larger than what your 'father' likes or when they have talents that he wants. They kill other vampires in cold blood, so to speak, because they don't follow their made up laws or respect their self-imposed royal status."

During his little rant, I had been shaking my head vehemently. "Father wouldn't do that! He says that he only rids the world of vampires who bear the threat of exposing us to humans. As for the humans, they're nothing but vermin. They're of no use to us other than a food supply."

"Irene, they've lied to you! You can't stand there and tell me that you're 100% okay with them murdering innocent vampires, ending the lives of thousands of humans!" I fidgeted guiltily under his steady gaze. He noticed this and pressed on. "Irene, please, come with me. We can leave here and go somewhere far away. You can learn to live off of animal blood instead of feasting upon humans." He stared at me imploringly.

Backing away from him slightly, I said, "Carlisle, I can't. He saved my life! He took me in and sheltered me. I have a home now, because of him."

"Irene… he's just using you. Don't you see? You have a valuable power, and now you're a part of his collection. That's the only reason."

Snarling, I ripped away from his grasp, glaring frostily at him. "Go away. I never want to see you again." My words were like steel, cold and harsh and unyielding.

Carlisle looked at me, with such a sorrowful expression on his face that I almost relented. Almost. "Is that really how you feel?" he asked, searching my emerald eyes with his gold ones. I nodded stiffly. He placed his hand on my shoulder then dropped it quickly. "I'm sorry to hear that. Goodbye Irene." With that, he turned and left the clearing.

As I watched him leave, I saw red. 'How dare he accuse Father like that?' I thought furiously. Through my anger, I could feel the sadness well up deep inside me. Venom pooled in my eyes, threatening to fall. I thought he was different. I thought he lov—

I spun around blindly, cutting off that thought as I headed towards the town. Running through the trees as fast as I could, I paid no attention to the branches and thorns tearing at my hair and ripping through my dress. By the time I reached the end of the woods, I was mindless in my rage.

I flitted through the shadows along the streets, searching for a straggling human, late going home from work that night. A rustling to my left caught my attention. Whirling around, I saw a young woman with an infant sprinting towards a house a few feet away. With a feral snarl, I fell into my hunting crouch and flashed over to them. Before she had a chance to cry out, I reached up and snapped her neck. I smirked as I cradled her in my arms and bit roughly into her neck.

~*~ 158 years later (Present) ~*~

I let go, letting the drained corpse fall to the ground with a dull thud. Rising, I straightened my cloak and nodded to Felix, who was thoroughly freaking his meal out. "Didn't your mother ever t teach you not to play with your food?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at his antics.

He smirked back, answering, "But where's the fun in that, Irene? In fact, why don't you come over and join me?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Rolling my eyes at the mountainous vampire, I walked out of the 'dining hall', having sated my thirst. As I passed by the frail human, Gianna I believe, at the desk by the front entrance, she stopped me. "Oh, Irene! Aro wishes to see you in the throne room!"

I nodded curtly and pivoted back towards my father. As I reached the door, I heard the voices of Marcus, Caius, and my father conversing quietly. Swinging the door open, I smiled at my uncles before stopping in front of Aro, my father.

"Ah, Irene. So glad to see you. I have some rather distressing news for you. It seems as though a coven in North America, the Cullens, has broken on the most imperative of the vampire laws."

I stiffened slightly at the name of the man who had left me so long ago, but kept my face blank as he continued with his sorrow-filled explanation.

"A loyal vampire reported to us sometime ago that the Cullens have created and are harboring an immortal child within their coven. It is your job to go ahead and scout everything out. Report back to me your findings. Do not let me down." His voice was unusually stern on the last sentence, and I nodded firmly. His serious expression evaporated, replaced by a joyful smile. "I knew I could count on you, Irene!"

Knowing I had just been dismissed, I bowed respectfully to the three leaders and exited the room to prepare for the trip.

This was originally a one-shot, but turned into something of a mini-story. The next three chapters are completed, but I wanted to see your reaction to this one before posting them. I hope you liked! :D


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the second installment of this story! :D

Sorry 'bout the wait. It feels like years since I've updated… T^T Sorry!

~*~ On the Plane ~*~

Once I had boarded the plane and sent a death glare at the flight attendants and other passengers that promised pain if any of them approached me, I settled down and closed my eyes, losing myself to my thoughts.

Though I hadn't seen Carlisle in over a hundred years, the feelings I had had for him and the anger I felt for him after that fight all leapt to the surface, as raw as the day they were created. Each emotion lashed out at me, tearing open the old wounds.

Pushing them aside, I tried to focus on something else. I decided to have some fun annoying the other passengers. Using my telekinesis, one of the many powers I had acquired over the years, I messed around with the older couple sitting in front of me, lifting random objects from the lady's purse and the man's… man purse. I saw the woman's face turn white as various pens and lipsticks began to float around her head, unnoticed by the other passengers surrounding them. She shrieked and screamed for the attendants, only for me to drop the objects back in her lap, leaving her looking senile as she persisted, "I swear, they were floating right in front of my face! Weren't they Herman?" She looked expectantly over at her husband, who was wearing those insanely large earmuffs that muffled out all the sound around him.

"Of course they were, Mrs. Shay. Why don't I go get you some Valium and a glass of warm milk?" the flight attendant said, concerned, patting the old woman's leg. I giggled to myself and continued spending the rest of the flight annoying, disturbing, and in general irritating the crap outta the passengers. By the time the plane landed, I had effectively broken up two couples, caused three fights among the teen passengers, and scared one guy who was being a jerk so much that he peed his pants. My spirit had been thoroughly lifted and I was just laughing my head off… until I remembered the reason I was in Forks.

My good mood had evaporated by the time I reached the house that Father had set up for me ahead of time. As I stared up at the place, I was reminded of my father's obsessive need to overdo basically everything he ever set out to do. The 'house' was more like a small mansion, with four floors, floor to ceiling windows that covered one side of the house, a large wrap-around porch, and, from what I could see through said huge windows, had very antique, very expensive furniture. The house itself was shielded away from prying eyes by a very thick mass of trees, set far enough away from the road that even to me the sound of the passing cars was little more than a whisper.

Sighing, I went inside and arranged my few belongings. After I was finished with that, I hunted in the forest near my house and waited for night to fall, when I would take a little trip to see what there was to see at the Cullens.

~*~ nightfall ~*~

I crawled through the night's shadows, keeping out of the moonlight as much as possible. Right in front of me stood the Cullens' abode, also well hidden from the humans. As I crept closer, I heard several voices talking at once. Keeping to the shadows, I slunk up to the window and glanced around the room.

I was shocked to see several vampires lined up against the wall in what appeared to be the living room. My unbeating heart lurched in my chest when I saw Carlisle and another vampire arguing in the middle of the room. Everything else faded from my senses as I took in his pale, chiseled features and well-built body, his golden blonde hair that fell into his honey gold eyes for a split second before he swept it back up into his usual style. I felt a deep, aching feeling in my heart, and I realized that I had never gotten over him since that day 158 years ago.

I was so attuned to my first love's image that I had blocked out all the sounds around me. I jumped and swore when a voice behind me said smoothly, "May I help you?" Spinning around, I found myself face-to-face with two male vampires: one with bronze hair that fell in a windblown fashion around his face and into his golden eyes, eyes that were looking at me in surprise and perhaps a little fear, the other a tall, leonine man with blonde hair who was also staring at me, as though trying to gauge something.

Unsure of how to respond, I just stared at them blankly, running several escape plans through my mind, each centered on taking down the blond first, because he seemed to pose the biggest threat. Bronzey eyed me worriedly. Before I had a chance to run, their hands clamped down on my arms like steel vices. Angrily, I glared at them so hatefully it would have made Jane proud, but they remained unaffected as they dragged me around to the porch and through the doors.

The arguing stopped as every vampire – and one werewolf, I noted distantly – turned their attention to the new addition that was currently being flung to the center of the room at Carlisle. A.K.A, moi. As I straightened myself up, casting a glare back at my captors, I turned around, ready to beat the crap outta whomever was closest to me, only to freeze, finding myself staring deep into those honey golden eyes that had an uncanny ability to catch me and drag me into their depths.

"Irene?" he asked unbelievingly. "What are you doing here?"

With an effort, I dragged my eyes from his and said curtly, "Carlisle. Long time no see." Ignoring the pain that radiated through me from seeing his face again, I glanced around, deciding that the best way to deal with this was by direct approach.

"So where's the girl?" I asked bluntly, doing a 360 as I searched the room from where I stood. I noticed the Cullens, mainly bronzey, stiffen in fear. I raised an eyebrow at their behavior. "Well? The sooner you show me, the sooner I can leave and get on with my life. Figuratively, of course." Silence.

Suddenly, a vampire started walking in my direction. I kept a casual appearance, inwardly going through a list of the many ways I could get rid of him if he proved a threat. When I saw his face, though, I smiled grimly and stated, "Eleazar, in the flesh." Man, I'm on a roll today with these figurative phrases.

"Irene. Still as powerful as ever, if not more so." He gave me a strained smile as he read the powers that I had acquired after he left. Smirking a little bit, I glanced to the side and saw bronzey's eyes widen in astonishment. Quizzically, I concentrated on him for a second. I felt the small pull of the power I had gotten from Eleazar when I first met him: the ability to identify another vampire's gift.

My eyes widened as I realized he was a mind reader and that he had probably been listening to everything I had been thinking since I first showed up outside his house, if not when I came into town. As he stared at me wide-eyed, I had the distinct feeling he would have been smirking smugly at that thought had he not been in shock from the discovery of my powers.

A little disgruntled, I turned back to Carlisle and demanded, "Show me the girl, Carlisle. I must see her."

Suddenly, the werewolf I had seen when I first entered the room spoke up. "What's it to you, filthy bloodsucker? Why is it so important that you see her?"

I glared disdainfully at him, his annoyingly obvious obsession and need to protect the child grating on my nerves. Then, I had an idea. Trying not to put too much thought into it, I launched into my plan. "Well, it has been rumored that an immortal child hides within your midst, and the Volturi are planning a little... visit to investigate. And we all know what that implies, don't we, dear Cullens?" I took a moment to capture each Cullen's eye before I continued. "I have also heard that you have been gathering witnesses that will prove your innocence to help you against them."

The vamps in the room regarded me suspiciously, and I gave my best nonchalant expression as I stared at Carlisle. He glanced at Edward, who nodded almost imperceptibly. Stiffly, he turned back to me and said, "Thank you, Irene. We appreciate your help very much. Bella, if you will."

Above me, I heard soft footfalls and a tiny... thrumming, like that of a hummingbird's wings. Surprise and confusion flitted across my face before I regained my composure once more, staring at the stairs indifferently. Soon, a vampire with mahogany hair and odd colored eyes that suggested at her diet walked into the room.

But it was not her that I paid attention to. No, I marveled at the small child she held in her arms. Her hair was the same bronze as Edward's, and her skin was the rosy red of a healthy human child. I could hear her heart beating, faster than that of a human's. But, perhaps oddly, what startled me most were her eyes: a deep chocolate brown color, staring back at me with more wisdom and knowledge than a child twice her age should have had, and it shook me.

Without taking my eyes from hers, I declared, "Carlisle, I will bear witness against the Volturi that this child is not an immortal child."


	3. Chapter 3

Hey! :D I hope you're all enjoying Bound by Love, Torn by Duty so far. Let me know what ya think! ^^

Part Three

The days passed by slowly. The Cullens had reluctantly let me be a witness for them, although Edward still remained tense around me. I didn't give him much of a chance to read my mind, though, because I spent the majority of my time out in the forest by myself.

One particularly sunny day, I sat out in a tree, just resting quietly. Suddenly, the branches below me quivered and shook as someone climbed up to me. Without opening my eyes, I knew who it was. I would recognize that scent anywhere.

"Hello, Irene. Beautiful day, isn't it?"

My lips tilted down in an annoyed frown. "Depends on your perspective, I suppose." I could practically feel the face he was making.

"What makes you say that?" Carlisle asked, settling onto the branch beside me.

I sighed. Rolling off the branch, I placed my feet under me as the ground rushed up to meet me. I landed soundlessly and began running deeper into the woods, knowing he would follow me.

We burst through the trees after a while, coming into a small clearing. I strode out into the sunlight and watched as it danced off my skin, sending sparkles and shimmering light all over the grass around me. Taking a deep breath, I turned and faced Carlisle, who stood a few feet away, watching me with an unreadable expression.

"Carlisle, don't you ever think about..." My voice trailed off as several emotions welled up from deep inside. "Don't you ever miss what we had?" His expression remained the same, his eyes never leaving my face. "I mean, we-we were in love, weren't we? Didn't you love me?"

With every word, I took a step closer to him, watching him watch me. A distant part of me stared in shock as I drew closer to him, until I was close enough to touch him. That part yelled at me to stop, to turn around before it happened again. But the bigger part of me marveled at his face, his eyes, him.

"I know I loved you. And I still do," I whispered softly as I stood in front of him, my face centimeters from his. I saw something flash through his eyes before I leaned in, closing the gap between us.

The second my lips brushed his, it felt like I had been electrocuted. It felt like it had only been yesterday that I had last kissed him. He froze at first, but then kissed me back, wrapping his arms around my waist as I wrapped mine around his neck, tangling my hands in his hair. All the defenses that I had put up when he had left me fell down, leaving me feeling vulnerable, yet at the same time protected. In his arms, I could fool myself into thinking that the past century and a half had all just been a bad dream...

Suddenly, he stiffened and wrenched away from me, gasping. I stared up at him, confused. He looked back, his face settling into a grim mask that scared me. "This is wrong, Irene."

"What do you mean?" I asked, panic snaking its way through my stomach.

He shook his head. "I'm married, Irene. I have been for more than 80 years! I may have loved you then, but I moved on. You should do the same." His voice was calm and decided, but his black eyes stormed.

I stared at the ground, pain, regret, and sorrow filling me until I thought I would burst. "You're right, Carlisle. I'm... I'm sorry."

I stood quickly, and turned away from him so he couldn't see my face. "I'll just..." I moved my feet numbly, tripping over myself at first. Then I began running blindly through the trees, not caring where I was headed as long as I was far away.

As I ran, I thought back over what had just happened. I had been so stupid! Of course he had moved on! It had been almost two freakin' centuries! My pace eventually slowed as the trees and the snow around me thickened noticeably. My eyes stung, and I could feel small burning streaks running down my cheeks. Wiping the back of my hand across my face, I disgustedly noted the small trails of venom that had somehow leaked from my eyes, leaving small, almost unnoticeable scars on my face.

I felt shame well up inside me at how I had acted toward Carlisle, practically throwing myself at him. Collapsing into the cold, snow-covered ground, I brought my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around myself, trying to stop the chill that had nothing to do with the temperature around me.

I don't know how long I stayed like that. It could have been a couple hours, it could have been days. I stayed in that same position, broken-hearted all over again because of my stupid mistake. After some time, someone came looking for me. I could hear them searching a few miles away, calling my name, but I remained silent.

A little later still, I heard quiet footsteps as someone approached me. I didn't look up at the newcomer, just stared unseeingly at the snow in front of me.

"Come on, Irene, get up." Bronze and white flashed before me, and suddenly Edward was in front of me, his arm outstretched. I ignored it.

He sighed deeply. "Look Irene. Sitting here like this will get you nowhere. If you want to fix things between you and Carlisle, you need to get off your butt and do something about it!"

That jolted me out of my reverie. I finally looked up at the boy in front of me, my face a question mark. He sighed again and knelt down in front of me, looking me dead in the eye. "Did you ever stop to notice any similarities between you and my family?" I shook my head, confused. "Take Esme for example. Your hair is exactly the same color as hers." He gestured to my short caramel-colored hair that kept falling into my face.

"Next, your personalities are very much alike. Well, your personality before... You know. You're both kind, gentle, caring, and compassionate people. You seem to share a few personality traits with Emmett, those being slight cockiness and the inability to think things through before you act." He arched an eyebrow at me, and I thought back to the incident with Carlisle. "You're spontaneous and hyper when you're happy, like Alice, and sometimes quiet and moody like Jasper. (:D) And although Carlisle would never admit this out loud, I think one of the reasons he was compelled to save me was because of my eyes." He reached over to brush some stray hair out of my face. "When I was human, my eyes were the same sparkling green as yours."

I stared up at him, not really understanding what he was getting at. He rolled his eyes. "Don't you get it? He's been drawn to the people in his life because they remind him of the person he's been in love with for the past century and a half." He stood up and turned to leave. He paused briefly and stated over his shoulder, "And he does love you, no matter what he tells you or himself." With that, he melted into the trees' shadows, leaving me to ponder what he had revealed.

He... He _does _love me? I thought of everything Edward had pointed out and how accurate that information would be since he got it firsthand, and my face broke out into a grin. He does!

I stood up so fast that it blurred the area around me for a second. Then I took off in the direction Edward had gone with a determination to fix everything.

I came upon the house after about half an hour of hard running. Still smiling exuberantly, I burst in the front door only to find the house empty of all the vampires that had been occupying it for the past month or two. My smile slipped as I realized how old the scents were. I followed a trail of the vampires' scents out into the forest. As I ran through the trees, I wondered exactly how long I had been sitting in the snow. As I came closer to the end of the trail, a breeze sent new, horribly familiar scents my way.

The Volturi had arrived.


End file.
